While Americans celebrated New Year’s Dec. 31, Chinese-Americans waited patiently for the most widely celebrated holiday in their home country.

Ann Lamm , manager of N.C . State’s Confucius Institute, helped organize the event, which was held in the Mahler Fine Arts Gallery downtown.

“The Chinese New Year is based on the lunar calendar, that’s why it changes every year. Last year’s event was much later,” Lamm said.

Lamm said the event aimed to celebrate the Chinese holiday, and provided insight to the holiday’s importance.

“You have the 12 zodiac signs, so every year is a different animal. This year is the Year of the Dragon, they usually last for 15 days, and you have a different event that you do on each day,” Lamm said.

Lu Yang, graduate student in middle grade education, said the event is widely celebrated and very important in China.

“Chinese new year is the most important festival in China,” Yang said.

Yang said the festival is very much like the American holiday season, in that it is celebrated for an extended period of time and is typically the most widely-celebrated holiday around the country.

“Chinese New Year isn’t just one day, it is 15 days. The last day is a Lantern Festival,” Yang said.

The Lantern Festival was celebrated in downtown Raleigh Wednesday night, representing the end of celebration and the beginning of a new year.

Many other Chinese students explained that they too saw it as the most important holiday in Chinese culture.

Liang Zhang, graduate student in English, has only been in the United States for a short period of time and said the festival is widespread in China.

“It’s a Chinese festival where everyone gets together and eats food like dumplings,” Zhang said.

Lamm said the event was a networking opportunity as much as it was a way to celebrate what the Chinese regard as their most important holiday.

“This event was not really for students, this was really more of a networking event,” Lamm said.

Traditional Chinese items served at the event were dumplings, turnip cake, crab rangoons , as well as rice and an assortment of meat. Traditional Chinese beer and wine were also served to the event’s predominately professional crowd.

Liusha Zou , a Chinese musician, played a traditional “pipa” at the celebration: a stringed, upright instrument that produces a soft, twangy sound.

Lamm explained it is important for students to embrace the Chinese culture and the Confucius Institute aims to do just that.

“China has so many people, and their economy is booming, and they want to come to the United States to get a better education, we want to bring them here to diversify our campus,” Lamm said.

Many of the Chinese students spent their first New Year away from home at the event, volunteering.

Minwen Gao , graduate in middle grades education, said she has come to the University because of her work, and decided help out with the celebration.

“I have a part-time job to teach secondary Chinese, so that is why I am here today, to volunteer,” Gao said.

Hanbo Chai , graduate student and teaching assistant in chemistry, explained he has only been at the University for a half of a year, but has no trouble with communication, and says he has enjoyed his time in Raleigh.

“Raleigh is nice, it is quiet, a lot of Chinese big cities are crowded, there is a lot of life being enjoyed [in Raleigh,]” Chai said.

The event served as a reminder to faculty that Chinese culture, along with their economic development, is something American Universities are coming to embrace.